Shenandoah National Park
200+ mile stretch of scenic byway in Virginia through Shenandoah National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway 🤯 Hiked a little bit of the Appalachian trail, camped a couple nights, enjoyed the region immensely, and did NOT want to leave. I think this has to be my favorite of the park regions I had the opportunity to sample on the east coast over these last couple months. It's huge, accessible, and the population seemed relatively low (albeit I was there during the week), so it felt like somewhere ripe with potential to explore with a lot of freedom. As an aspiring backpacker, the Appalachian trail itself of course has a romantic allure to it as well, and has a huge community around it. It was really cool seeing all the support that local establishments have for those thru-hikers.
